Sally Jones - A trip around the world in pictures
Sally Jones - A trip around the world in pictures (Original title: Legenden om Sally Jones ) is a picture book by the Swedish writer and illustrator Jakob Wegelius . It tells the story of the monkey lady Sally Jones, who has to come a long journey and endure numerous adventures in order to find her place in the world.
Sally Jones was published in Swedish on August 26, 2008 by the Swedish publisher Bonnier Carlsen. The German translation was published by Gerstenberg Verlag in 2009 and comprises 112 pages. Gabriele Haefs translated the book into German. The book has been published in Germany , Denmark , Japan and the Netherlands , among others . It is Wegelius' fourth book.
The book was awarded the August Prize (2008). The features section praises: "With Sally Jones - A trip around the world in pictures, Jakob Wegelius invented an exciting and deeply moving adventure story" (Boris Halva, Frankfurter Rundschau of December 8, 2009).
content
On a stormy night, a gorilla girl is born deep in the African rainforest . But it cannot live long there because poachers catch them and sell them to a Turkish ivory dealer. He in turn would like to give it to his fiancée. In order to smuggle the gorilla girl disguised as a human baby onto a ship, he gives her a name: Sally Jones. Since the dealer's fiancée is not particularly enthusiastic about the gift, Sally Jones sells it on to the rich widow Frau Schultz.
She initially takes very good care of her in her villa in Istanbul. But then she teaches Sally Jones to steal and uses them to commit various break-ins. When the gorilla girl is caught, Ms. Schultz, who is a cheat and has used a false identity, escapes. Then Sally Jones has to go to the zoo, where she meets the orangutan Baba after six years . Baba comes from the rainforest in Borneo and is very homesick. The two dream of a future together in the rainforest and give each other support. When Baba is moved to another animal park, Sally Jones is deeply saddened and stops eating and sleeping. The vet misinterprets their behavior and advises selling them.
So she comes to a traveling circus, where the assistant to the magician Magic becomes Silvio. However, one day he has to flee and takes Sally Jones with him. She not only helps with his appearances and does various tasks for him, but he also teaches her to read and write so that she can answer his numerous love letters. Magic Silvio is getting lazy and lazy and finally he even shows her how to drive a car so that he doesn't have to drive anymore. Sally Jones takes this opportunity and steals the truck. With that she makes her way back to Istanbul, where she frees Baba from the zoo.
The two monkeys are hiding in the storage room on the Otago ship, which is headed for Southeast Asia. Her journey takes her via Egypt and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean . Her supplies run out quickly, and despite the warnings Sally Jones utters, Baba can't resist and steals food from the ship's kitchen. He is caught and the two stowaways are blown up. The two monkeys are only allowed to stay on board with the help of the machinist Henry Koskela, who is also known as "The Chief" - on the condition that they cooperate. Baba doesn't like the high seas or the work on the ship at all, but Sally Jones feels very comfortable.
When the Otago gets into a storm, the entire crew has to flee with the help of the lifeboats. Koskela, Baba and Sally Jones can barely save themselves in a boat before the ship sinks. With this lifeboat they finally get to Borneo. There Baba and Sally Jones secretly run into the jungle. Baba immediately feels at home, but Sally Jones does not know her way around the jungle and has difficulty finding her way around. When they meet a group of orangutans, the problems get worse. Baba is also changing: in his joy over his new friends and the return to his homeland, he forgets that Sally Jones needs help. Eventually, the orangutans believe Sally Jones is a threat and she has to leave the company.
She is caught by hunters of the Dayak people - and discovered in their camp by a merchant who buys the Dayak from Sally Jones. This merchant in turn sells Sally Jones to a naturalist who hopes to have discovered a rare animal species. He invests all his money in an unsuccessful expedition and spreading the news of the supposed sensational discovery. When he is finally economically ruined, he takes all his frustration out on Sally Jones. But one day she defends herself and the naturalist falls and dies. The authorities are now selling it to an Indian pub owner who hopes to attract guests with Sally Jones as an attraction.
One day she is discovered there by the seaman Koskela, who immediately saves money to buy her out. He takes her on board the ship Patna, on which he works. There he first nurses her to health and finally he teaches her how to be a machinist so that Sally Jones can work with him. After the chief loses his wages on the Patna because of an injury, the two get on another ship from Singapore to San Francisco , where they open a repair shop. The Chief marries, but when the marriage fails, he and Sally Jones travel on to New York via Texas. There they can buy their own ship with the help of money that Sally Jones steals from the fraudster Mrs. Schultz: the Hudson Queen. When the two have brought the ship into shape, they set out and travel the whole world. When they get closer in the Congo to the spot where Sally Jones was once caught by poachers, she runs away. The chief is unhappy and after three weeks of waiting he sets off on his journey. But then he meets Sally Jones, who tearfully says goodbye to a large group of gorillas and then returns to the Hudson Queen.
characters
main characters
Sally Jones
Sally Jones was born in the Congo. There she lives happily with other gorillas until she is caught by poachers. She is a very unusual monkey, with a particularly large number of talents. Many people want to take advantage of this, which Sally Jones has to suffer from. She is smart, capable and skillful, learns to read and write, drive a car and much more. She particularly likes working on the high seas as a machinist. In the zoo, she meets the orangutan Baba, with whom she falls in love. But it turns out that the two are at home in different worlds. When she has to leave him, it breaks her heart and she suffers from severe lovesickness for a long time. But especially with the support of her new best friend Henry Koskela, she gets over Baba.
Minor characters
Henry Koskela aka The Chief
The chief was working as a machinist on the Otago when he met Sally Jones and Baba. He is a very good-natured and honorable sailor, which is why he is also committed to the two monkeys. He always treats Sally Jones very well and, above all, no different from people. His heart is broken by a singer he was in love with for a long time. Only Sally Jones can get him out of this hole. In San Francisco he met the baker Donna Bloom and married her. But since she has a problem with Sally Jones, he leaves her again. His friendship with the monkey lady is more important to him than any woman. Just like them, he has a great passion for ships and crafts.
Baba
Baba is an orangutan from Borneo. He was smuggled out of the jungle by the helmsman of a ship and ended up in the zoo in Istanbul . There he met Sally Jones, with whom he quickly became friends. The two dream of a life in freedom. When they finally manage to escape, Baba first finds that he doesn't like life on the ship at all. He wasn't made for work there either. He is all the happier when they come back to Borneo in the jungle. He loves to swing from branch to branch, pick food from the trees and spend time with the other orangutans. He's so excited about returning to the jungle, he forgets his girlfriend Sally Jones completely and so the two go their separate ways.
Literary criticism
The Frankfurter Rundschau writes "Jakob Wegelius invented an exciting and deeply moving adventure story with Sally Jones - A trip around the world in pictures " (Boris Halva, December 8, 2009). The Badische Zeitung praised the book as follows: »He illustrates the episodes page by page in an ancient manner, sometimes like an engraving, sometimes like a photograph, a map or an advertising poster. Brilliant! «(February 9, 2010).
Nominations and Awards
| 2008 | August price |
Public book presentations
The book was presented as a German premiere in the presence of the writer at the children's and youth program at the 16th Berlin International Literature Festival in September 2016.
Web links
- Original language and German language publisher website for the book
- Author's website